Mango Sorbet Taste Test

We tried ten varieties of your favorite sorbet flavor and found only a few that taste like a ripe fruit from the treeby Carolina Santos-Neves

"I scream, you scream, we all scream for mango sorbet"? Okay, so maybe that little song doesn't exactly rhyme when you substitute sorbet for ice cream, but don't you find yourself screaming for this lighter frozen dessert after a heavy meal (or any meal)? We do! It really is an ideal sweet treat, especially when certain fruits aren't in season.

Sorbet has become an enormous frozen-dessert category of its own, and there are countless flavors available, from strawberry, passion fruit, and blueberry to açaí and even rosé. To make our taste test as authoritative and practical for consumers as always, we sought a flavor that most brands produce and sell in supermarkets. But which flavor to try? We turned to the Epicurious community and posted a poll on our home page asking users their favorite sorbet flavor. The clear winner was mango, with 52 percent of thousands of votes.

It's little wonder that sorbet can engender such passion. Not only is it delicious, but sorbet is generally lower in calories and fat than ice cream and frozen yogurt. In our experience, a half-cup serving of ice cream or frozen yogurt has anywhere from 90 to 280 calories and from 0 up to 22 grams of fat; sorbet ranges from 80 to 130 calories and typically has 0 grams of fat. Sorbet is also the perfect dessert solution for folks who prefer not to eat dairy or soy. Feeling a craving coming on? If so, check out which three brands have what it takes to make mango season last year-round.

Best Mango Sorbet Overall

Pros: "Tastes like frozen mango nectar," stated one judge. "The texture is perfect—almost creamy, and not corn syrupy–sweet, either," claimed another. All editors agreed that Cold Fusion's sorbet was love at first bite and accurately resembles the taste of a perfectly just-fell-off-the-tree– ripe mango.

Cons: Presently not available on the West Coast.

First Runner-Up

Pros: One tester boldly declared that this variety tasted better than a real mango. Another editor said, "I like how it's very smooth and creamy, almost like gelato, and not icy." Another simply said, "This tastes so sublimely authentic that I could eat this one all year round. I think I'm addicted."

Cons: "Smells like sugar," said one taster. Indeed, the second ingredient is sugar, preceded by water (mango purée ranked third).

Second Runner-Up

Pros: All tasters agreed that this variety has a refreshing mango perfume and vibrant color. "I love that it's slightly tart and has no bizarre aftertaste," stated an editor.

Cons: Slightly grainy.

The Other Contenders: The Bottom Three

Bindi Mango Sorbetto proved that one should not judge any product by its packaging. Bindi's untraditional cardboard box makes this option look very upscale, but it's far from it. All agreed that it is sweet and tasty but has only a minimal trace of mango. In fact, it has a slight pear accent. One editor said it looked like mashed potatoes, while others elaborated by describing it as awkwardly airy and fluffy. Editors felt that So Delicious Coconut Water Mango Sorbet tasted more like tart plain yogurt than a tropical fruit sorbet. "It is smooth but lacks any distinct sweet mango flavor," said one judge. The least popular of all was SoCo Creamery's entry. One editor commented, "Not only does it have a terrible aftertaste, but it simply tastes like cardboard." Testers found it far too chunky and noted that its pale yellow color gave them no reason to believe they were eating mango sorbet.

Methodology: In a blind taste test, judges compared the flavor, consistency, and appearance of ten store-bought mango sorbets. All were sampled free of any toppings. We ranked the sorbets according to the Epicurious four-fork rating system (four being best).